The Tale of the Marauders Map - We Know We're Called Gred and Forge
by zahkriiven
Summary: How many of us have wondered how exactly Fred and George Weasley got their hands on the Marauder's Map, and more importantly, how they figured out the way it worked? Well, worry no more, cause here's the answer! As a bonus, you can also find the tale of how exactly the Map came into being, and in whose hands it ends up after Harry's. Happy reading!
1. How The Map Came To Be

It was a warm summer day in March, in the year 1975, and four Gryffindor fifth-years lay sprawled carelessly on the grass next to the lake. One of them, a handsome boy with messy dark hair sat up at the sight of a red headed girl walking past , her nose pointed in the air, studiously ignoring the four. Another of the boys, also extremely good looking with long black hair poked the first boy in the side and looking at the girl, yelled. "Oi, Evans!"

Lily Evans looked back at them and her lip curled. "Hello Sirius. Evidently you haven't learned much about the merits of good company.", she said, staring at the first boy who was gaping at her like his every dream stood right in front, before walking off. A third boy, scrawny and mousy haired, snickered at this and the fourth, who had been silent all this while, quietly smiled.

Sirius Black laughed as well, seeing his messy haired friend avert his gaze and turn red. "Well James, I doubt that could have gone any worse. The one good thing is that she isn't hanging around with that greasy Snivellus anymore." James Potter looked at the ground and muttered something that his mother would most certainly ground him for if she had heard. Sirius went on. "You're fine winking at a hundred other girls after a Quidditch match, but one look at Evans, and you act like a Full Body-Bind Curse has been cast on you. Or do something irrevocably stupid. What do you think, Wormtail?"

The scrawny boy grinned and his whole face brightened at being included in the conversation. Peter Pettigrew spoke up: "James, that girl is never going to give you the time of the day. Heaven knows there are enough girls in our year, not to mention other Houses, who are absolutely crazy about you. Why do you insist on making a fool out of yourself? Tell him, Moony."

Remus Lupin, who had been quiet all this time, merely patted his friend on his back. "Now, now, James still has two more years to convince her that he isn't a waste of space. Not that I'm optimistic, but there's always hope. Right, James?"

James grinned at his friends, though his skin was still tinged with a slight blush. "Right. Now, moving on... Remember last month's excursion?" Sirius laughed again. "How could I forget? Filch almost caught us as we were coming back into the castle. Poor Wormtail almost had a fit."

Seeing Peter open his mouth to protest, James quickly went on. "Well, upon further reflection, what if we could make sure that we knew where everyone in the castle was at any given time? Say, if we enchanted a map of Hogwarts, showing all the passages, even the secret ones, to show the location of all the castle's inhabitants? How could we go about doing that?"

Lupin frowned slightly. "We could use a Homonculous Charm I suppose. That would let us track the movements of every person in the mapped area, through labelled dots that move around. Its supposed to be a horribly complicated spell though."

Sirius snorted. " Please. We managed to become unregistered Animagi without any help. This should be a piece of cake. Speaking of cake, I'm hungry. Let's sneak into the kitchen again, and discuss this further over some pastries."

The four friends made their way towards the kitchens, bickering and planning how to make their idea work. And thus, the notion of the Marauder's Map came into existence.


	2. An(other) Encounter with Filch

Hogwarts Castle, 1989...

Fred and George Weasley were laughing over their mother's latest letter, where she, as usual, cautioned them to not do something reckless and stupid. But their mother's definition and their definition of idiocy differed drastically, and thus, a few hours later, the two first-years found themselves in a corridor, waiting for some hapless students to pass by, and activate the Dungbombs they had placed beforehand.

However, , the noxious caretaker Filch's equally noxious cat padded into view and staring at them with her disconcerting yellow eyes, meowed softly. She almost seemed to sense that the twins were about to do something that broke the school rules. Fred softly nudged his brother and whispered, "Say George, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" George, staring back at Mrs. Norris smiled. "I think that excellent charm we learned last week might do, eh Fred?"

"The one Flitwick taught right? Oh yes. This should be fun. And heaven knows, the cat deserves it. She got us another detention last week, just because we Levitated a bucket of water on Filch's head." George sagely nodded. "Not to forget the week before, when we got a dressing down from Professor Mcgonagall for sneaking out at night. Do you want to do it, or should I?"

"Go right ahead, George."

George pulled out his wand and taking aim at the cat, said clearly, "Tarantallegra!"

A flash of bright green light hit the cat and Mrs. Norris' legs started jerking uncontrollably in the semblance of some crazy dance. She yowled crazily and the twins, lost in spasms of laughter failed to notice the frowning apparition behind them.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY CAT?!", yelled Filch as he grabbed both the twin's shoulders firmly and marched them off. After locking them in his office with a warning not to touch anything, he went off, the madly jerking cat clasped firmly in his arms, to presumably find a counter curse.

"Galloping gargoyles, did you see that cat dance? I'll never forget her surprised yowl for as long as I live," laughed George loudly. Fred was chucking too, but sobered up. "Now wait a minute. We're in Filch's office. Imagine all the things we could do! Let me see, I'm pretty sure I have a bunch of Dungbombs somewhere in my pocket..." In the meantime, George was walking around, trying the drawers in Filch's old worn desk, only to find all of them locked.

Fred sat up, frowning. "Hurry up, I think I hear footsteps." George pointed his wand at the last drawer, that said Classified and Highly Dangerous, and cried, "Alohomora!" The drawer opened with a click and George grabbed the first thing he grasped, which appeared to be a bit of parchment. Hastily stuffing it under his sweater, he shoved the drawer closed and sat back in his chair just as Filch entered with Professor Mcgonagall. The twins flashed their most innocent smiles, and tried to look contrite. Mcgonagall however, was not fooled.

After yet another detention, this time spent polishing old trophies won by old students (which took them until midnight), they entered the abandoned common room and sank into two comfortable armchairs. "So what did you manage to grab in the short time we were there in Filch's office? I dropped a few Dungbombs under the cushion of his chair." With a flourish, George pulled out the folded parchment and spread it out only to see... nothing but blankness.

Fred clapped. "Oh well done! All those things that Filch has confiscated over the years and you pick up a piece of blank paper! Good job!"

George put on a thoughtful face. "If it was merely a parchment, there's no reason for it to be locked up. There must be something about it..."


	3. The Marauders Get To Work

1975, the Gryffindor Dormitory...

After stuffing themselves with cake, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs collapsed on their four-poster beds in their room. After ribbing James about that afternoon and his obsession with Lily Evans for a bit, James got tired of being teased and changed the topic. "So, Padfoot, what do we say we start working on that Map of yours?"

Sirius smiled almost evilly. "Don't think that you're free of us mocking you about Evans, Potter. However, I agree, this gets priority. Wait, I had a map of Hogwarts somewhere in here..." Saying so, he dug into his trunk for a while and pulled out an old faded parchment. Remus looked at it and frowned. "Sirius, you do realize that none of the secret passages are drawn onto this map of yours? It isn't going to be very useful in its current state."

Sirius stretched himself out next to Peter and yawned. "Well then, draw them Moony! And they're secret passages! They're hardly going to be present on any standard map now are they? Has the moon addled your brains?" Peter and James burst into laughter at that, and Remus frowned anew. "Just because I'm a werewolf-"

Sirius interrupted. "Where-wolf?" James and Peter simultaneously pointed at Lupin and cried "There-wolf!" and the three of them howled with glee. Remus cracked a reluctant smile and shook his head. His friends had every right to joke about his transformation, given what they'd done for his sake, just so he wasn't alone when he became a wolf. He hadn't thought in his wildest dreams that he'd actually have a friend, much less belong. With a warm feeling in his heart and a smile still etched on his face, he began drawing the missing passages onto the map.

Sometime later, the four stared at Lupin's efforts and Sirius smacked his head. Remus glared at him. "What in bloody hell was that about?" Sirius glared right back and pointing at the fourth floor, said "You forgot about the one behind the mirror, you idiot. Did you get hit in the head by the Whomping Willow the last time we sneaked out?"

The four of them spent the next week mapping out the castle during day and its grounds at night under James's invisibility cloak. They met up a few days later at half past twelve, and after some more friendly squabbling about various locations and Remus making the appropriate changes, all of them finally agreed that they had added all the knowledge they possessed about secret passageways in the castle.

James spread the map out on the bed and stated, "Now, for the next step. I did my research on the charm, and the incantation has to be cast silently. Not to boast, but I am the best at wordless spells-"

Sirius cut in, "Yes, yes, and the worst at talking to Evans. Get on with it, Prongs." James gave Sirius the evil eye, before closing his eyes and sweeping his wand in an intricate motion over the paper. Nothing happened. Peter looked at the parchment and observed, "I don't think you did it right, James. Maybe you should try again?" Remus grinned. "Wormtail, we have to write down the names of the people in the castle. Let's see if it worked. Want to write our names first?" Wormtail grasped the quill and immediately handed it back. "No, Moony, you go on. You have the best handwriting." Sirius and James chortled.

Remus wrote the first name. James Potter. The dot attached to it immediately moved to the Gryffindor Dormitory. The four of them whooped and patted each other on the back. "This calls for a celebration, boys!" Before Sirius could get on his feet, James grabbed his shoulder and pushed him down again. "Let's finish adding all the names first."

Hours later, Remus yawned and stretched, dropping the quill with a slight clatter. James and Sirius, who had stayed awake with him, prodded Peter in his shoulder, which made him jump awake and look wildly around. "Relax Peter, you're safe.", said James as he leaned over the Map. "This is beautiful Remus. Absolutely beautiful. All that's left is a title that states we were the ones who made it. I have no doubt that this will be used by future generations of Hogwarts students to cause all kinds of mayhem. And we'll be helping them the whole while. Ah, this is a proud day for wizardkind", he continued, wiping an imaginary tear.

Peter stared at the Map in awe but then his face fell. "Say, isn't this against the rules? I wouldn't put it past our professors to confiscate it if they saw it, and-" James and Sirius started chuckling. "Like we haven't broken enough rules already. For heaven's sake Peter, we're unregistered Animagi. It doesn't get more rebellious than that!" Remus however, thoughtfully spoke, "Peter does have a point. I have an idea. Let's give the Map a catch-phrase, one that will cause it to work, and another to make it appear blank after we're done using it. That should keep it safe and sound."

Peter cried eagerly. "And for further security, we can use our nicknames for being called the makers of the map!" Sirius sighed. "You never change, Peter. Live a little, won't you? So the activating phrase can be..."

James flashed his teeth. "I solemnly swear, I am up to no good." Sirius nodded his agreement. "Should keep any goody two-shoes from accidentally activating the thing. As for the blank-phrase, I vote for 'Mischief Managed'."

The others offered no resistance to the proposal and after enchanting the map to do as mentioned, Remus added their nicknames to the map:

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs  
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers  
are proud to present:  
THE MARAUDER'S MAP "

The four of them stared in admiration at it before Sirius spoke. "There's just one thing left... What if someone like Snivellus gets their hands on this thing and tries to use it? There ought to be some kind of snarky reply, right? An insult or two or a thousand?" James snickered. "I have some intriguing ideas on that front..."

The four put their heads together and managed to Charm the Map to be able to reply to people based on their intentions, and specially added a few lines for Snape, should he ever try and use it. Finally, at the break of dawn, James stood up and held the map stretched out before proclaiming, "Here's to a new era of detention-free pranks! "

The other three slapped his back enthusiastically and finally, before they sunk into bed, exhausted by the night's labor, Remus tapped the Map and whispered, "Mischief managed."


	4. I Solemnly Swear

The Gryffindor Common Room, 1989...

Fred and George Weasley sat in front of the common room fire, trying to figure out why Filch would have an innocuous bit of parchment locked up in a drawer labeled dangerous. George pulled out his wand and prodded the paper. Nothing happened, and Fred skeptically raised an eyebrow at him.

"I think you're just going to have to admit you messed up big this time. Seriously. Imagine! Generations of troublemaking students' confiscated stuff, and you grab a useless piece of paper!" Jabbing at it with his wand, he cried, "Look at it! It's absolutely blank. We should throw it in the fire and be done with it. Its a disgrace to the reputation that we, Fred and George Weasley, have so painstakingly achieved in this school!"

Picking up the parchment, Fred held it over the fireplace, only to snatch it back in shock. "Blimey! George, look!" There on the paper, lines of neat cursive were appearing rapidly. George grabbed the parchment from his twin's hand and both of them stared at it eagerly.

Mr. Moony would like to commend Messrs Fred and George Weasley for gaining possession of this artifact, and sincerely hopes that they figure out how to use it.

Mr. Padfoot agrees with Mr. Moony, and strongly recommends against throwing it in the fire as that would rob them of valuable information and opportunities.

Mr. Wormtail echoes the sentiments of both Mr. Moony and Mr. Padfoot, and wishes you all success in unlocking its secrets.

Mr. Prongs would be happy to point the young misters in the right direction, and suggests that they try spelling their intentions as to what they'd use this for out loud.

George clapped Fred on the back and snickered. "So much for this being useless, eh? Say you were wrong, or you're never seeing this again!"

Fred sighed. "Alright, alright, I admit it. You were right. Now all we have to do is figure out what exactly this thing does. It did say to spell out our intentions... Hmm. Fine then. I promise to use whatever this is to perpetuate harmony and goodness throughout the wizarding world!"

Four new sentences appeared:

Mr. Wormtail thinks that Messrs Fred and George Weasley are full of it, and advises them to tell the truth.

Mr. Padfoot sadly shakes his head and regrets to inform Messrs Fred and George Weasley that they aren't of a suitable temperament and also asks them to learn to lie better.

Mr. Prongs would like to call attention to the fact that the four creators, namely themselves, had a long history of detentions and lines during their time at Hogwarts thanks to following their beliefs.

Mr. Moony would merely like to state that the parchment in question is capable of sensing your true natures, and that the only reason we are still conversing with you is because you show great promise.

For the second time that night, Fred got smacked hard, this time on the back of his head. "You idiotic git! Let me try. I promise to someday push Filch into the Vanishing Cabinet!"

And so the night wore on, with the twins trying various phrases and the Map replying to them, alternating between hints, sarcasm, insults, and wry bits of advice. A few choice examples follow below:

Mr. Padfoot appreciates your desire to wreck havoc and wishes he could share a pint of Butterbeer with you.

Or:

Mr. Wormtail prays that Messrs Fred and George Weasley manage to someday trick Mrs. Norris into eating an Acid Pop.

Once:

Mr. Prongs is pleased to tell you that you are getting warmer and would love to meet you someday to discuss a prank he has in mind.

And hours later, finally:

Mr. Moony hopes that the twins are up to no good, and suggests that they solemnly swear the same, and see what happens.

Fred and George were generally patient people, but after all this time fruitlessly trying, even they couldn't take it. George glared at the Map, and if he could, he would have probably burned holes into it with his eyes. Fred was just as irritated, and he exclaimed exasperatedly, "I can't believe it! We've been trying for what seems like an eternity! We've used every combination of promises to make mischief that we could think of, and nothing works!"

Poking at it, he continued, "Look at that bloody last line! What does it want me to say, that I solemnly swear that I am up to no good?" He looked down at it, scowling, only to freeze. George, seeing his brother's reaction stared at the map as well, and both the twin's jaws dropped open as they gazed at the rapidly forming Map before them.

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs congratulate Messrs Fred and George Weasley for finally figuring it out, and recommend that they say 'Mischief Managed' when they are done using it.

We are proud to present to you:

THE MARAUDER'S MAP"

The twins grinned at each other and chorused in unison, "Well, that wasn't so hard."


	5. The Peril of Night-time Strolls

_**The year 1977...**_

James Potter checked the Map for any obstacles on the way towards his objective, and relaxed when he saw the path was clear. He tapped the Map, and murmured "Mischief managed." A month ago, he had finally succeeded in getting Lily Evans to go out with him, and since then, had been indecently overjoyed.

It was one A.M, and the Common Room was deserted, partly because of the time, and partly because James had threatened to hex the three remaining boys, who were ribbing him about his plans with Lily, if they didn't clear out. James smiled at the three dots, now ensconced safely in their dorm, and was doubly glad he had the Map. Now they couldn't track him either.

He turned to see Lily Evans descending the staircase from her room and grinned at her, desperately happy to see her. She was smiling back at him, which was a pleasant yet strange change, considering that she had spent the past six years ignoring, insulting, or avoiding him. But then, the path of true love never did run smooth.

"Ready for our night-time stroll, Evans?" Her red hair was pulled into a ponytail and her green eyes danced. "I still say this is a terrible idea, Potter. But then again, so was the whole of last month." She winked at him and laughing, he took her hand, reveling in the feeling when she squeezed back. They exited the portrait hole, careful not to wake the Fat Lady and pulling the Invisibility Cloak over them, proceeded to walk towards the grounds.

A good while later, James and Lily started back towards the castle, only to stop as a huge black dog joyfully gamboled towards them, frantically wagging its tail. Even as Lily bent down to pet it, James crossed his arms and glared at it. So much for privacy.

"James, why is it that every single time you see this adorable creature, you start scowling like he did something unmentionable to you?" _If only she knew,_ James thought to himself and sighed, before he too started to stroke its thick fur, and the dog happily barked.

The three of them made their way through the castle, and all was going well until the dog accidentally knocked over a suit of armor. Almost instantly, Filch was there, and James barely had time to throw the Cloak over himself, Lily and the dog, who had morphed back into his human form of Sirius Black. What he didn't notice was the Map that had fallen from his pocket when he had pulled the cloak out.

Lily almost screamed in shock at the dog's sudden transformation, but Sirius managed to clamp a hand over her mouth in time. The three moved as quietly as they could back towards Gryffindor Tower, and none of them saw Filch frowning, and picking up the blank parchment.

In the safety of the Tower, Sirius started laughing at Lily's expression of astonishment. James stepped in. "I can explain, I promise." She paced back and forth, before pointing at Sirius and groaning. "So all those times in Hogsmeade and-" James turned slightly red, and nodded. Sirius was snickering- "Oh, don't worry. I turned away when you two were snogging. Even I have some things I can't watch." It was Lily's turn to blush, and she buried her face in her hands. Her voice, slightly muffled, said, "No wonder you looked at the dog like you were going to kill it. I want to strangle him myself now."

Sirius spoke up again- "You do realize James can turn into an animal as well right? He's a stag." Lily gaped at him in amazement before she muttered, "So that explains your Patronus." _And mine as well,_ she thought to herself _._

James was glaring at Sirius again. "So how did you find us?" Sirius looked very pleased with himself. "Well, dogs do have an exceptionally good sense of smell, and you stink, Prongs. Did you think taking the Map away would prevent a truly dedicated person from locating you? Now hand it over."

James reached into his pocket and blanched. He patted his clothes and checked his pockets again. "I can't find it. I must have dropped it in the corridor, when I pulled out the Cloak!" It was Sirius' turn to glower. "Bloody brilliant work Potter! You've lost our most valuable tool to Filch, of all the people possible. And after the last time we broke into his office, he's made it impossible for anyone to do it again! Wait till Moony and Wormtail hear-"

Lily interrupted them. "What did James lose?" Sirius threw him a dirty look before replying, "I could answer his heart, to you, but then that was years ago." She rolled her eyes. Sirius went on, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Listen well Evans, and let me tell you the story of the greatest invention made by the four most brilliant students this school has seen- well, three of us are at any rate..."

 _ **Meanwhile...**_

Filch sat in his office, casting suspicion-laden looks at the parchment he had found. It looked awfully similar to the ones he had often seen in the hands of those four Gryffindor troublemakers. Tapping it with a finger, he muttered, "I'll ferret out your secrets yet, my beauty. I, Argus Filch, haven't been the care-taker of this school for all these years without a reason." He almost jumped out of his chair when he saw lettering appearing on the Map, and gingerly pulled it towards him to read it.

 _Mr. Moony bids hello to Mister Filch, and deeply regrets to inform him that he is a mean git with a face that looks like a pile of owl droppings._

 _Mr. Wormtail agrees with Mr. Moony, and asks Mister Filch to take a bath before doing anything else as the stink is unbearable._

 _Mr. Padfoot registers his amusement at the fact that Mister Filch seems inordinately proud of his post considering he is nothing more than a reviled self-glorified cleaner._

 _Mr. Prongs asks that Mister Filch more carefully hides the fact he can't use magic properly, and refrain from tormenting students in the future._

Filch immediately grabbed the Map and stuffed it in a drawer marked Classified and Highly Dangerous, before locking it and collapsing back in his chair, wiping the sweat off his face and gulping down air, trying to relax. That thing was nothing but trouble. Better to lock it away safely here, where no one can get their hands on it...

Or so he thought.


	6. The Changing of the Guard

We all know that Fred and George passed on the map to Harry.

But what happened to it afterwards? Here's what I think occurred...

Epilogue:

The year 2015, Harry Potter's house...

James Sirius Potter carefully listened as he tiptoed towards his father's office, where he knew his dad kept all his important papers. After making sure no creaking noises emanated from either the floor boards or the door, he silently entered the room and began methodically searching every drawer and shelf. He found a sheaf of official looking papers, a bunch of notebooks, and a whole collection of both interesting and boring things, but none of them were what he was looking for. After carefully placing his father's rather dusty Order of Merlin, First Class back into its bottom drawer, he cautiously retreated as quietly as he had entered, promising to himself he'd find it tomorrow.

The next morning, after blearily gulping down breakfast and waving goodbye to his father before he left for work, James went to look for his brother Albus. He found him sitting on the back porch, reading 'Hogwarts: A History ' . He sat down next to him, and spoke with the assured knowledge of his one year's experience at school. "So you're already preparing to go to Hogwarts, little brother? Just be careful. I've heard that the Slytherin Common Room is in a creepy place. Right under the lake if you can imagine!"

Albus Severus Potter slammed the book shut and glared at his brother. "I am NOT going to be in Slytherin!"James had seen that very expression on their mother's face a wide variety of times, but only when she was about to explode. He hastily changed the topic, realizing that if you wanted someone to do you a favor, you didn't go about it by riling them up. Clearing his throat, he hesitantly broached the reason he had come looking for his brother in the first place. "Er, I need you to keep Mom occupied for a while downstairs. For an hour maybe."

Albus just stared at James. "And why would I do that?" James fidgeted a bit and spoke quickly, "I have to look for my birthday presents!" Albus gave him a look that said 'I don't trust you one bit but I'll still do this for you' before abruptly grinning at his brother. "Done. In exchange for half the fudge Grandma Weasley gave you last week. And the Chocolate Frog card with Agrippa on it."

James shook his head at that. "The fudge is fine. Not Agrippa though, I've only got one of him. I'll give you Ptolemy instead, I know you don't have him either." Albus slowly nodded and as James got up and was about to go inside, said, "I know you're lying, you nitwit. Your birthday is months away. You'd better tell me what all this was about later." James just shook his head and went inside, waiting for his brother to do his part.

Ten minutes later, James sneaked into the kitchen to see his mother and Albus engaged in a deep conversation about the professors and Hogwarts itself, his sister Lily listening with wide eyes. He wanted to join in but he walked away noiselessly, and went upstairs to search the one place he hadn't yet, his parents' bedroom.

He carefully searched the room, leaving nothing untouched. But he couldn't find anything. He sighed, and sat on the bed, head in hands. Where could it be? Teddy had told him that Uncle George had confirmed the fact that Harry still had it, before the boys went on to dream about the mischief they'd achieve with it. He fell back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling only to see... what appeared to be a trapdoor almost hidden, painted as it was identically to the rest of the room. James grinned and after dragging the step ladder to the bedroom without anyone noticing, he opened the trapdoor and clambered into a tiny attic.

There was nothing much, just a trunk covered with a slight layer of dust in a corner. It was unlocked. James opened it, and found a lot of stuff- his father's old red-gold Quidditch robes, some textbooks, and more relics from his father's days at Hogwarts, even a Golden Snitch. He would have loved to go through everything, but time was running out. He reached the bottom and felt his hands close around a thick piece of paper, and his heart skipped a beat.

Reverently, he pulled out a blank faded parchment and spread it out on the floor. Touching his wand to it, James whispered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good", and waited, just as the twins, and his father, and before them, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs had.

Before him, neat lines of black rapidly crossed each other and formed a sketch of the castle he already considered a second home. And right in front, was permanently inscribed the legend,

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs  
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers  
are proud to present  
THE MARAUDER'S MAP"

The End.


End file.
